Doctors visit...

My visit to the doctor today went VERY WELL!!!

We talked about how I have been feeling and then discussed what might be causing some of the problems. When you are working with pain management you really need to go for the whole person concept meaning that other forces can affect your pain level, things like personal, financial, mental health and so on. Obviously outside stresses can have an effect on the pain level so helping to keep them all in check can really be a big help. Some problems such as financial ones cause stress and that can be treated with anti-depressants and when you feel more comfortable and relaxed you are better able to control your pain. You also might find that with the drugs your ability to think and reason are a bit clearer in regards to the outside problem causing the stress, allowing you to find a solution.

Anyway, we talked about my sleeping problem and I told him that I thought the pain was the biggest factor in not sleeping well. I have the lidocaine patches but was told to wear them for only 12 hours at a time but finding the right 12 hours has been difficult. He told me to go ahead and wear it for 18 hours and put it on an hour or so prior to racking out. The issue before was that if I wore it at night I would sleep better but without the patch during the day there is no way I would be able to keep up with the boys. Since I can now wear it for another 6 hours we kill 2 birds with 1 stone. If I put it on right before bed time (10ish) I can wear it until 4pm the next day. That gets me through both of the tough times when I really need it so I am happy about that.

We also upped the dose of my primary pain killer. While the dose is doubled he did reduce the number of times a day I will take it. I was on 60mg a day before with 3 pills but now it will be 80mg a day with 2 pills, so it will be interesting to see how it works out.

We also talked about my headaches and the fact that Relpax is $5 per pill, way more then I can really afford right now (that's about $150-275 per month depending on the headaches). He was not sure about what else he might have for me but then decided to put me on Inderal which is a beta blocker but also has great migraine fighting ability and he also filled a prescription for Midrin, which I have had before, for the headaches. I was even happier when I filled them both for $20, rather then $40 per 8 pills like before.

As I was leaving the office I saw a flyer for a pain management study they are conducting on Fentanyl. The drug is already approved for use in humans but they are working on a new delivery method and that means they need FDA approval. The study will provide me with the medication for the pain as well as $50 per visit (16 total visits over 1 year) and a chance to really be part of something that is very worthwhile. I am also glad that since they will be providing the meds for the pain (this study is for breakthrough pain) I will be able to save about $60 a month on the meds I am currently using for breakthrough. Edit: The drug I will be testing is an oral form of Fentanyl which as I understand it is widely used in Duragesic patches.